Whether businesses reached out and made their locations more bicycle-friendly, or streets were redesigned to include bike lanes, the overall outcome has been increased spending in local neighborhoods. Shoppers who arrive in urban neighborhoods via cars may spend more in one sitting — but overall those who arrived on foot or by bicycling spent more month to month. The results indicate that neighborhoods and business districts that seek a healthier bottom line should work with municipalities and support such features as protected bike lanes, bicycle racks and pedestrian safety improvements.

Bottom line? Bikers bring the cash. We’re not hippies. We’re hipsters. You think mason jars grow on trees? You have to buy those things. Also coffee. So much coffee. And cool sneakers. And lobster rolls. And more mason jars.

The East Village has caught onto this, and if more small businesses did the same, they could create a pro-bike infrastructure coalition that no politician could refuse. That’s right, I said small businesses! I am practically Mitt Romney!

Bike lanes should be political gold. Do it. Build them. Jumpstart that economy.